George Petersen (politician)

For the New Zealand lawyer, consul and historian, see George Petersen (historian). For the New Zealand biochemist, see George Petersen (biochemist).

George Petersen
File:Wilfred George Petersen.JPG
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Illawarra
In office 13 February 1971 – 22 February 1988
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	Terry Rumble
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Kembla
In office 24 February 1968 – 13 January 1971
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	District abolished
Personal details
Born	(1921-05-13)13 May 1921 Childers, Queensland, Australia
Died	28 March 2000(2000-03-28) (aged 78) Shellharbour, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Illawarra Workers Party (1987–1988)
Other political affiliations	Communist (1943–1956) Labor (1957–1987)
Awards	File:Ribbon - Pacific Star.png Pacific Star
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Branch/service	Australian Army
Years of service	1942–1946
Rank	Signalman
Unit	2/5th Commando Squadron
Battles/wars	World War II Borneo campaign

Wilfred George Petersen (13 May 1921 – 28 March 2000) was an Australian politician, affiliated with the Labor Party and elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Early life and background

Petersen was born in Childers, Queensland, the son of George and Eva Petersen and was descended from Scandinavian migrants who came to Queensland in the 1800s. He was educated at Bundaberg State High School, but owing to hard financial times left at age 15. Petersen found work as a telephonist for the Postmaster-General's Department and as a pensions officer and special magistrate for the Department of Social Services from 1937 to 1968. In World War II he served in Queensland and Borneo as a Signalman in the 2/5th Commando Squadron from 1942 to 1946. In 1947 he married his first wife, Elaine Verna Tout, and had a daughter in 1953 and then a son in 1956. Later, they divorced and he married Mairi Isobel Wilson Gould in 1975. They had one daughter.

Political career

In 1943 Petersen joined the Communist Party of Australia. He left in 1956 after Khrushchev's Secret Speech, which denounced Stalin. Transferred to a job with the Department of Social Security in Wollongong, New South Wales, in 1957, he soon joined the Australian Labor Party inspired by the Trotskyist method of entryism. Becoming a prominent local member of the party, Petersen was encouraged to run for politics by the local Federal Member for Cunningham, Rex Connor. Consequently, Petersen was preselected as the Labor candidate for and was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Kembla in 1968. He represented this electorate until the 1971 election, when he moved to the seat of Illawarra.

Later life

In 1987 the Unsworth Labor government capitulated to demands from the insurance industry that the compensation benefits paid to injured workers must be cut. Petersen refused to support it and crossed the floor to vote against the government's Workers Compensation Act, which he described as "vicious, anti-working class legislation". Facing expulsion from the party, Petersen resigned his party membership attacking the "Irish Catholic conservatism" of the ALP and declaring his loyalty "to the working class and not to any organisation". From 21 July 1987 he held his seat as a member of the Illawarra Workers Party, which he had formed on the principle of protecting worker's rights. Although, at age 66, Petersen had intended to retire at the next election, his principled exit from the ALP led him to run one more time at the 1988 election. Despite a spirited campaign, Petersen was defeated in his seat by the Labor candidate Terry Rumble.